30 min suspension of #UCU18 is up. National Head of Democratic Services (staff member) has come back (not elected President) to tell us staff not willing to come back in yet: we've been told Congress cannot continue. Bedlam now as ppl work out if absent chair can be challenged >>

Being argued rules allow for #UCU2018 Congress2continue in these circs but mics are off. Impossible to hear properly. Also being proposed can't have proper Congress now, so could have a discussion about what's going on instead. Counterargument "Go Congress or go home" 🤦🏻‍♀️

Decided among those remaining (show hands): #UCU2018 Congress can't continue in these circs as wd be undemocratic (some ppl have left, access issues, etc) so non-Congress discussion continuing (the status of this meeting would be 'large gathering of Congress delegates' I think)

Delegate whose name I missed making point that discussion now needs to happen in branches+regions about this. Concerns being expressed over what will be communicated to wider membership (via email lists only accessible by hq etc) #UCU2018

I have literally never seen anything like this. To confirm: #UCU2018 Congress over for now but motion earlier was passed for *Recall Congress* to continue any biz lost to delay. But we don't know yet when. Discussion now about whether can produce a statement from those still here

.@TimmoGoodall frm @leedsucu just stressed how important it is to counter any idea ppl still here/disgusted by this are of 'one group or faction'. He (+I) are not in a faction, he (+I) = disgusted by what has happened. We u/s the rules should allow 4 Congress to continue #UCU2018

We at @leedsucu were already planning an EGM prior to the HESC on #USS. That EGM agenda has just grown CONSIDERABLY. Our delegates will all report back on the happenings + discuss with members locally. Brief timing related email coming later #UCU2018

Delegate from 1 of the "contentious motion" branches (didn't catch which) has just reported back their delegation was told the motion (if had been passed) wouldn't compel a resignation in rule, the distinction = around political tenability had it been passed (think m10) #UCU2018

Remaining delegates agreed proposal to state and reaffirm our appreciation of the work the UCU staff do #UCU2018

Discussion now after report back from delegates who went to meet Unite reps (for UCU staff) who report feeling would be health and safety issue for them to come back into #UCU2018 - there has been a bit of raised voices etc so seems to be agreement that should be apologised for

Delegate now stating vehemently: this is not a coup, not about how ppl would have voted on m10/11 but is about being able to actually debate motions that were ordered onto the agenda in rule by CBC + Congress voted to hear several times #ucu2018

Once again, with feeling: I have never seen anything like this. But please use this opportunity to engage with the positive stuff that was voted through re the *demonstrably very necessary* democracy review + the recall Congress that is TBA. #UCU2018#ourucu (new hashtag)

I think I am in actual shock, but we must remember that we - members together - are the union. There has been really positive stuff at #UCU2018 + positive things can&should (+need) come from these happenings. #ourUCU

Here's statement signed by ppl in the screenshotted lists = majority of those who were able +/or chose to stay for discussion after #UCU2018 Congress declared closed by Head Democratic Services:

Related hashtags

Good @USSBriefs thread on #USS HESC yesterday afternoon in Manchester... it was inquorate so advisory+motions will be sent to HEC to deliberate... negotiators do have meetings before then so will need to balance existing @UCU policy with advice/guidance from 91 delegates yday /1

I hope this + results of HESC on Pay + Equality dispute mean extra HEC meeting(s) to avoid squeezing everything into short slot on a larger agenda (of other very important things). To be effective, we need time for focused discussion on enacting motions properly/transparently /2

@ucu *🚿Shower and re-humanify interlude after a LONG day indoors at the (sadly) today unexplored @sim_manchester museum + trains. #unionstrong reps function better after 🚿☕️...*

RESUMING! TL;DR on pay+equality dispute = we're reballoting, but *not* right away: early new year to allow time to regroup+build (understanding+momentum) with commitment to improved resourcing+coordination. Returning to aggregated balloting after long, important discussion /2a

Y’day’s HEC was another packed schedule for 11-430 meeting. Attendance hit by Thur scheduling (unfortunate but probably unavoidable). Loads of important work + pressing Pay+Equality ballot + USS dispute. For the latter 2 we were considering motions to send to the 7 Nov HESCs /2

HEC = Higher Ed members of the National Executive Committee (NEC). We meet regularly between Congresses to enact @ucu policy as decided democratically at annual Congress, and to make 'steering' decisions in line with this. However "HESC" meetings are also policy-forming... /3

Related threads

As a historian specializing in the #Holocaust, #Nazi Germany, and #Europe in the era of the world wars, I have been repeatedly asked about the degree to which the current situation in the United States resembles the interwar period and the rise of #fascism in Europe.
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I would note several troubling similarities and one important but equally troubling difference.

In the 1920s, the US pursued #isolationism in foreign #policy and rejected participation in international organizations like the League of Nations.
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In an astonishing development related to the #NXIVM cult case, a video has surfaced where the mysterious & powerful frmr Pres. of #Mexico, #CarlosSalinas, can be seen DANCING like a happy, nice man, near his son #EmilianoSalinas who has been under investigation. Why do you think?

In the current #NXIVM#RICO case, Emiliano Salinas, son of frmr. #Mexico President #CarlosSalinas, has been under investigation. The father, #CarlosSalinas, is considered by many to be the ultimate power broker in #Mexican politics. He is rarely seen. This video has now surfaced. Sorry, your browser doesn't support embedded videos

Does AUSA Moira Kim Penza, prosecutor in the fed. #NXIVM#RICO criminal racketeering case, realize that her indictments of #NXIVM leader, Keith Raniere aka "Vanguard," last March, may have affected the outcome of the 2018 Mexican Presidential Election? #ArizonaMafia#Democrats

Moira Kim Penza is 1 of the main prosecutors in the federal #NXIVM#RICO criminal case. A #RICO case is very serious; it is 1 of the most complex types of prosecutions the U.S. Government can initiate. Moira's boss is Richard P. Donoghue, U.S. Atty for the Eastern District of NY.

Penza is a smart lawyer. According to publicly available information, she studied at Cornell Law School, a private Ivy League University located in Ithaca, New York. Cornell was ranked the #13 law school in America, out of 203 law schools, by U.S. News & World Report, in 2018.

#NoConfidenceMotion | Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge complains to Speaker Sumitra Mahajan about the time allotted to the #Opposition. He requests her not to impose a time limit on the Opposition parties.

National politics correspondent for Newsweek, Nina Burleigh, with a fun find on a TV above the bar at the Trump Hotel DC bit.ly/2E37QRR

Two errors in the 2nd graf of Breitbart's Trump Hotel DC article:
-holdings aren't out of @realDonaldTrump's hands: trust isn't blind & he can profit from it
-Trump Org told Congress it was estimating foreign receipts—not auto donating in fullbit.ly/2CpL7z2